Portsmouth Book and bar very close to opening!
Portsmouth book and bar very close to opening!
Category Archives for John petrovato
Portsmouth Book and Bar nearing completion
70% of the books are now on the shelves and the interior furniture arrives in a few days. In a week or so, everything should be finished and the only thing left is waiting for the final inspections from the city and the permit from the Sta
te. We apologize for the seemingly slow progress. The construction process was a lot larger than we anticipated originally. But the final result will be a much more amazing space than we could have hoped for. This photo doesn’t do justice to the space.
john petrovato
Local newspaper review of the soon to open Portsmouth Book and Bar
Portsmouth Book and Bar to Open in Two Weeks
John Strymish, one of owners, says they are shooting for Nov. 22.
It’s been about four months since John Strymish and his two other business partners began renovating the former Customs House building on Pleasant Street for the new Portsmouth Book and Bar cafe.
On Thursday afternoon, Strymish said they will open for business in two weeks on Nov. 22, just before Thanksgiving Day weekend. Strymish said they have completed all of the most challenging interior design, electrical and plumbing related work. Now they have to secure their New Hampshire liquor license and obtain their city inspection permits over the next two weeks.
He said the rest of the interior work to set up the new book store and cafe is pretty basic. In the rear portion of the new business are several bookcases filled with books flanked by one long book case that stretches along the entire wall.
A great deal of work has been done on the bar area and all of the historic crown mouldings and columns have been restored and painted.
When all of the work is completed inside the 2,800 square foot space, Strymish believes their patrons are going to love it. The timing of their opening at the beginning of the holiday season should also work in their favor, he believes.
In September, David Lovelace, one of the owners, said patrons will be able to order a glass of wine, a pint of beer, coffee and menu items such as small plates of cheese and fruit, salads, sandwiches and soups prepared by Chef Amy Mehaffey.
Strymish said then they also plan to hire 8 to 10 part- and full-time employees to operate the new book store/restaurant.
Lovelace said then patrons will be able to browse books as they do in other book stores, but they can also sit and visit with their friends in what the owners hope will be a unique atmosphere that preserves much of the ornate historic crown mouldings that were part of the original building constructed in 1850.
Portsmouth Book and Bar’s Fiction is up
Books are finally getting on the shelves. A few days we put up 2500 novels on the shelves. Only 12500 books left to organize before we open. Portsmouth Book and Bar should be open mid- November, 2012.raven used book awarded “Best Used Bookstore” by Boston Magazine for 2012!
Summer of book buying
Raven Used Books of Boston and Cambridge has picked up an enormous amount of books this summer. Yesterday we purchased a philosophy collection of about 1500 titles and 3 days earlier a 2000 book collection of modern firsts (primarily first edition hard cover fiction and poetry). Since Jan., 2012, we have purchased 140,000 books and have sold over 81,000 thus far. Usually we purchase that many in one full year but the quality of collections that we are being offered are much more numerous in previous years. It is probably due to the fact that other bookstores are not buying books aggressively and/or the reality that after opening up the Boston shop 2 years ago, we are buying much of the Boston market besides the cambridge one. In any case, if you are looking for certain kinds of specialized collections, feel free to contact us via this site or the stores.
Boston Globe article on John Petrovato, Jon Strymish’s new bookshop
Jon Strymish getting back into books
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THIS STORY APPEARED IN
Some people never learn. People like Jon Strymish. Just a few months after selling the New England Mobile Book Fair, the Newton bookstore owned by his family for over 50 years, Strymish and two partners have plans to open another bookstore, this one in Portsmouth, N.H. “I guess I’m not very bright,” joked Strymish. “I don’t know anything else.” He’s working withDavid Lovelace and John Petrovato to create Portsmouth Book and Bar. As the name suggests, the 2,800-square-foot bookstore will have a bar and feature occasional live entertainment. “We’ve taken a hard look at bookselling’s future,” the group explained in its application to the city. “Great titles are not enough. Pretty views are not enough. Frankly a good cup of coffee isn’t enough. So we’ve added beer, wine, and sophisticated snacks. . . . We promise to push past the all-too-familiar hybrid of stale muffins and paperbacks and create bookstore cafe with an old-world ambience — a literary salon offering espresso, craft beers, wine, and creative small plates. There will be no Formica, no paperback pulp, no french fries.” But why Portsmouth? “Because it’s groovy and there’s a lot of foot traffic,” Strymish said. “But groovy is the key.” (He also signed a non-compete agreement with Tom Lyons, the new owner of the New England Mobile Book Fair, which prohibits him from opening a store within 60 miles of Newton.) Lovelace and Petrovato are not new to the business. They are former owners of the Montague Bookmill, and Petrovato also owns Raven Used Books in Harvard Square. (Interestingly, the current owner of the Montague Bookmill is screenwriter Susan Shilliday, whose credits include “Legends of the Fall” and several episodes of “thirtysomething.”) With a little luck, Strymish said, the new place will be open around Labor Day.
http://articles.boston.com/2012-05-30/names/31897626_1_bookstore-paperbacks-new-owner
Raven Used Books Boston, MA. opened in March, 2010
the raven in boston
Opened in March, 2010, this location stocks about 17,000 books in a beautiful space in the heart of the Newbury Street shopping district. Awarded “Best of the New” by the Boston Globe for 2010, this shop has strong sections in both scholarly and general categories, especially Fiction, Poetry, American History, Art, Architecture, Photography, Philosophy, Music, and Religion.
In addition, this location also has the sections Children’s Books and Cookbooks. This location adds about 1000 books to the shelves every week, and books are priced between 50% to 80% off the cover price.
john petrovato
john petrovato
john petrovato, proprietor
Noam Chomsky speaks at John Petrovato’s Raven Used Books in Boston, MA.
Photos of Raven Used Books of Cambridge and Boston, MA.
Random shots of Raven Used Books in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. and at 263 Newbury Street, Boston, MA.
